Tomorrow, lots of voters across England will be heading to the polls for their local elections. This year, many will be turned away for lacking approved forms of ID. Whether it is Frank*, 77 and retired, who explained to us that he has, “a freedom pass with a very poor photo which may not be acceptable, […]
Editor’s note: Bayside Restaurant was funded by Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council, ostensibly to pilot the feasibility of beachfront eateries. It was open on the seafront, between Bournemouth and Boscombe piers, for just one month in August 2022. From the start, it was dogged with controversy, first about the poor quality of service and […]
Dear Editor, A recent video released by members of Insulate Britain has chilled me to the bone. Young people protesting our national lack of action on the climate emergency are not only on trial for causing disruption but are now also being arrested on charges of perverting the cause of justice for stating their […]
Dear Keir Starmer I hear that you are now not going to support the introduction of real, meaningful electoral reform in the form of proportional representation. Have you forgotten 2019? The Tories completely played a broken, undemocratic and unrepresentative first past the post system and pretended it was a “second referendum” on Brexit. This has […]
We are about to put out a piece on tactical voting in the upcoming elections. We thought you might like a little refresher/reminder of what has gone before in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole! In chronological order: Well done! You’re nearing the end of this saga…May 4! Don’t forget your photo ID!
The fifth Byline Festival comes to Devon! You’ve read their articles, seen them on TV, applauded their values and their bravery in speaking out, and now you can see and hear them in the flesh! Some of the biggest names in the progressive media feature in the Byline Festival line-up, including: Carole Cadwalladr; George Monbiot; […]
Dear Editor, The French Revolution was a defining period in the social history of France. Totally fed up with a ruling class that lived in ridiculous splendour whilst ignoring the plight of common people – ‘Let them eat cake‘ , the masses rose up and took drastic action. ‘Madame Guillotine’ was kept very busy, not […]
Dear West Country Voices, This week we heard of a six-month ban and a speeding fine levied against Robert Jenrick, our esteemed immigration minister. He is the one who has to appear in parliament when his boss, Suella Braverman, either can’t be bothered or doesn’t feel up to answering difficult questions. Most of us will […]
Dear Madam, It was a breath of fresh air reading this, perhaps because it confirmed my views! I am no economist, I am a retired plumber, living in Newton Abbot. What gets me is that I left school at 16, and I can see that the Bank of England policy is irrational. Fundamentally, if people […]
Dear Editor, I got an email from the Secretary of State for Education today (Gillian Keegan) basically saying that if we don’t agree what they’ve proposed, the offer is withdrawn and the £1000 one-off payment (which is in lieu of an award for this year) won’t be on the table. (Incidentally, that one-off payment is […]
Dear Editor, Once again, I find myself in complete agreement with the analysis of one of your contributors (Jim Grace, writing about the Conservatives’ capture of the BBC). Although I don’t watch Match of the Day, following the Lineker debacle I made a formal complaint to the BBC about long-term right-wing bias within that organisation. […]
Dear Editor, One after the other, political commentators have been lining up to express solidarity with Gary Lineker … “but”, they add, “I wouldn’t have used that language”. Why not? There is enough evidence out there to justify his choice of words, it’s just that it has been drip fed to us so slowly we […]
There is barely a day that passes where I don’t get more angry and more ashamed in equal measure about this so-called government. Their policies are like something from a dystopian novel. I am a straight, white cis man, so really I have nothing to fear from their political games. However, I actually take time […]
Dear Editor, Selecting the chair of the BBC is almost Britain’s equivalent of finding the next Pope. He or she must be immaculate and must be an unassailable tightrope-walker in terms of political /social/religious balance. Why? Because the BBC is OUR BBC and we insist, indeed the BBC Charter insists, on political, social and religious […]
Dear Editor I couldn’t agree more with Jon Danzig’s latest article on Brexit/Putin. I took this image on a placard, on the ‘National Rejoin March’ in October 2022. Putin acts like an old-fashioned Tsar and has even built a Louis XIV-style palace on the Black Sea coast, but he’s also a competent strategist. With the […]
Dear Sir/Madam, I am writing to you in order to highlight what I perceive to be a greenwashing issue regarding the Somerset Levels. I was under the impression that following the Dutch N court case, the Somerset levels were protected from any additional phosphate discharge due to either their unfavourable condition or that they are […]
Funding to pilot a project involving the Lyme area community in the creation of the Great Big Dorset Hedge has been approved by Lyme Regis Town Council. Julie Leah from Charmouth, who is one of the coordinators of the project on behalf of Dorset Climate Action Network, said: ‘We really appreciate the Town Council’s support […]
With thanks to Care4Calais for their kind permission to reproduce this account. It is impossible to imagine how terrifying this must have been for them and for the unfortunate people who had been put in that hotel. This government, forever looking for others on whom to pile the blame for the effects of their policies, […]
Dear West Country Voices, The Titanic was advertised as being unsinkable. Its owners, the White Star Line, were facing great competition from Cunard in the burgeoning market to transport folk to the USA. Not just business men and rich people, but also those leaving for a new life. The Titanic had to be built as […]
Editor’s note: we are happy to publish unedited press releases for causes we support. Information on the official fundraiser for the Dartmoor National Park Authority appeal on the backpack camping ban. We are campaigning and fundraising to overturn the ban on backpack camping. We are the focus for public support to the National Park’s brave […]
A Somerset County Councillor is on a clean air mission. “I’m keen to learn the lessons of the pandemic” says Councillor Oliver Patrick, “and one of those lessons is that airborne diseases like Covid spread easily between people indoors where ventilation is poor.” Oliver’s clean air campaign began in September when he started raising money […]
Local campaigners against the importing and dumping of sewage into the Exe estuary took a blue plaque to their MP Simon Jupp’s office in Exmouth on Saturday 28 January to highlight the shocking state of our bathing waters. ESCAPE (End Sewage Convoys And Poollution Exmouth), Transition Exmouth, Plastic Free Exmouth, Tidelines, Women Swimmin’ and TEDS swimming group joined […]
Dear West Country Voices, I remember when we had rights of way. When I was a child there was a right of way pathway between council houses and the fields of a farm at the very edge of a county boundary, marked by a stone right on the edge of our garden and our neighbour’s. […]
⚠️🚨Urgent update on the Retained EU Law Bill (REUL) from the RSPB England – help needed! This Bill, which is set to be debated by MPs tomorrow, January 18, threatens to repeal hundreds of vital wildlife-protection regulations by the end of 2023. It must be stopped. Here’s how you can help … The REUL Bill […]
The judge’s decision on the right to wild camp on Dartmoor has cause upset and outrage amongst walker, climbers, nature-lovers and Dartmoor-lovers from across the country. On Saturday, people will be coming together to protest the verdict. We predict that this will be a very big event indeed and we will be there. You must […]
For the second part of our review, here are some articles which were read by hundreds rather than thousands. We think you might have missed some of them! We are particularly anxious that the passage of time and the power of propaganda does not wipe our memories of some of the terrible people who have […]
Our top ten reads for 2022 in reverse order. In at number 10, but thankfully NOT one to have had a go at being in at Number 10 (ho, ho), it’s that delightful ERG-er and Brexiter Sherryl Murray: At 9, a still sadly relevant piece on the abandoning of the clinically vulnerable to Covid risks: […]
A very happy Christmas and New Year to all our readers from the team at West Country Voices. We are going to take a bit of a break and detoxify (oh my, how we do need to detoxify!)from Westminster for a few days but urge you, if you have a few idle moments, to have […]
Dear West Country Voices, I am 70 years of age and started my career in the scientific civil service Chemical laboratories (Ministry of Defence) at Porton Down, Wiltshire. After four years I left, and worked in the food industry, both in production and research and development, finally becoming quality assurance manager in a major baby […]
Dear Editor Our exports are falling, farmers are discouraged from farming, fishermen from fishing, miners from mining, windfarms are blocked, and the London Stock Exchange has been overtaken by Paris. There is, however, still one profitable sector where the UK is genuinely a world leader – and Bournemouth is its second most important base. Publishing, entertainment, tourism, hospitality, […]